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Val d'Isere Snow Report: 18th February 2016

A great week with a few warmer days due after the weekend

featured in Snow report Author Wayne Watson, Val d'Isere Reporter Updated

Wow, what a fabulous week of skiing! With the sun shining most of the time the pistes have firmed up enough to stay relatively smooth throughout the day (although they are still at their best early in the morning) and the piste skiing has been better than it’s been for several weeks.

With the extra skier/boarder traffic in the resort having more pistes open has made a huge difference not only in quality of the pistes but also the ambience as well, as the quieter the better.

As for the off-piste it has been another stunning week of high-quality powder skiing. We’ve managed first-tracks all week long and we’ve been able to stay away from the crowds. In fact, most morning we don’t even see any other skiers and that’s hugely satisfying when you know that the resort is full.

On Monday we headed to the Fornet to stay in the sun while skiing great snow as Tignes was in cloud for most of the day. It was a maximum-turn morning and we had first-tracks all morning long. On Tuesday it was exactly the opposite and we skied in Tignes and enjoyed first-tracks in the Sachette while the Val d’Isere-side of the Espace Killy was clouded over. On Wednesday it was time to ‘skin’ as the resort had become tracked-out and we had fabulous snow for very little effort back at the Fornet. Thursday was a special day as my 12-year-old daughter joined my group and did her first-ever ‘skin’ up Mont Roup [see pics]. My wife was also along for the trip and the two of us thoroughly enjoyed watching Millie climbing and powder skiing as if she’d been doing it for years.

After several days of sunshine the resort has become totally tracked-out, and tracks combined with wind and sun damage have left us in need of fresh snow again. At this time of year as the sun climbs higher in the sky the sun’s rays start to damage the snow with a sun-crust, which can be nasty, and it starts to limit our off-piste options. (Eventually the sun’s increasing strength will give us spring snow but that is still some way off).

A few flakes are forecast for Friday morning and hopefully it will be enough to make a difference and give us a fresh canvas.

Weather in the village:

  • Friday - Light snow -9C/-5C Wind from the S at 5km/h
  • Saturday - Partially sunny -11C/0C Wind from the W at 5 gusting to 45km/h
  • Sunday - Sunny -5C/+8C Wind from the S at 5km/h
  • Monday - Partially sunny -3C/+4C Wind from the W at 5km/h

Cold weather on Friday and Saturday will help keep the snow cold and light, which is great for the off-piste and it looks as if we’re in for a couple of warm days Sunday and Monday.

Have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for another update on Monday.

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For more updates on a daily basis, follow Wayne's blog.

Location

Map of the surrounding area